Cohesion

Though Byrne spent the day with their parents, they went back to the general infantry barracks to ruck down.

One last time.

Tomorrow night, they would sleep in their new home as part of Cohesion Squad.

Well, as part of the Cohesion Experiment.

Byrne had no idea where that new home would be.

Only that, as part of the experiment, they would be isolated and sequestered with seven other people. No contact to the outside world whatsoever.

Like social sensory deprivation. Sort of.

Byrne would only be interacting with these seven and no more, for one hundred and twenty days.

One of two things was going to happen, Byrne knew: either this would make them a strong, well-bonded unit.

Or they would snap after a few weeks and kill each other.

Either way, it was gonna be cool.

Was Byrne afraid somebody was going to go nuts and kill them?

Not really.

Byrne Baez was ranked in the top two percent Designated Marksmen in the whole world.

You know what that means? Super Sniper. They'd never see it coming.

No one ever did.

Byrne closed their eyes on their rack in the barracks.

And didn't know how much time had passed when they woke up unable to move.

Bound, blind, gagged...and outdoors.

WELCOME TO THE EXPERIMENT

Part One

Over The River And Through The Woods

Admittedly, they spazzed for a few seconds, and made way too much goddamn ruckus.

Being blind when you first woke up, if of course you went to sleep a sighted person, would throw your brain into absolute panic.

Instantly.

Your brain would say, "We had eyes when we fell asleep, this doesn't fuckin' compute."

Byrne took a few quiet, deep breaths. Calm down. Listen.

They sensed at least one other person, but couldn't really hear anyone.

Was this the person or one of the persons that tied them up?

Another bound, unconscious victim?

No. Wrong word. Byrne thought, Not victim.

Just be still. Byrne thought, If this was just about killing me, I would already be dead.

So it's about something else, at least for now.

They could feel their body: uncomfortable, but not injured.

They hadn't been beaten.

They hadn't been raped.

Could this be part of the Experiment? That'd be pretty fucked up.

Byrne heard their dad's voice in their head, "Fear is natural, Byrnesy, it'll keep you from being reckless. Courage isn't the absence of that fear, but what you do in the face of it."

"You must be more quiet." A voice whispered in Byrne's ear. Female, calm, clipped.

Gah-fuck! Byrne jumped a little. God dammit.

The blindfold was removed by small hands. Byrne still couldn't see.

Pitch friggin' black, did the moon take a night off?

She was behind them.

"If I free your hands. You'll be quiet, yes?" She whispered, her breath hot on Byrne's ear.

Byrne nodded.

"If you attack me, you'll die right here. Do you understand?"

Byrne nodded again.

Almost instantly Byrne's hands were free. They thought she'd cut the ropes, but she hadn't, just untied them very fast.

"Follow." She whispered, "No sound."

"I can't see." Byrne admitted.

"Take my hand."

Byrne did so, and she quickly began leading them through the blackness of what was obviously a deep forest.

Silently they glided through the inky darkness, Byrne's nose and ears putting in the work, picking up the slack, trying to report back to their brain some kind of useful data, since sight was apparently an unacceptable format for receiving visual stimulus today.

How can she see? Byrne wondered, She's clearly an elf, I can tell, she's probably a dark elf, they can see in pitch bla--

They stopped, "You hear that?" She asked softly.

Now that they were still Byrne heard water. The babbling of a brook or the easy downward current of a creek.

"Water."

"I'll help you see." She said, "Spell. If not you'll drown, or get wet and freeze to death."

She moved behind them, placed fingers on their temples.

"W-wait." Byrne said.

"No time." She said, "I do this and you come with me, or I don't and you stay here."

"What's your name?" Byrne asked.

"What?" She asked, "We do--"

"Please." Byrne said simply.

"Xalynfein."

"Zay Lin Fayn." Byrne repeated, "I'm Byrne, you're FNA aren't you? Cohesion Experiment."

"Yes." She said simply. "We are in the Experiment right now."

"You're sure."

"I'm sure, Burn."

"Is that why you're helping me?"

"I don't know why." She said simply, "Close your eyes, quickly."

After Xalyn cast the spell, which was a quick and painless affair, Byrne's world grew much brighter, not noonday bright, more dawn or dusk, but more than enough.

Also, everything was tinted purple.

Byrne's world was like a big-ass grape.

They decided instantly that that was pretty awesome.

Byrne got a good look at her for the first time.

They were right, she was a dark elf.

Diminutive, rich grey skin, long, straight white hair in a single thick braid down her back to just above her butt. Violet eyes.

Dangerously beautiful, acutely aware, and to Byrne it seemed, perpetually suspicious. Of, like, everything.

Before Byrne could even thank Xalyn, they were following her and carefully hopping across wet river stones.

Crossing a wide, churning water vein that was much bigger and much wilder than what it sounded like from a distance.

"So..." Byrne began, carefully jumping from stone to stone, "Where are we going?"

"Focus on what you're doing. The stones are slick." Xalyn said, "We will shelter from the storm, and try to discover what is expected of us. And then surpass those expectations. Are you agreeable to that, Burn?"

"Stoked!"

"Stoked?"

"Agreeable."

"You're weird, Flamgra."

Xalyn made it across with little difficulty and turned to look at Byrne as they followed close.

Byrne hopped onto solid, dry ground right behind her and gave her a smile, "Guess I'm staying dry after all."

As if in response, the black sky roared thunder.